CTEC Tax Preparer Program

Santa Ana College is a qualified tax education provider, approved by the California Tax Education Council (CTEC). Each semester we offer a sixty hour, four unit qualifying tax course, Accounting 104- Federal and California Taxes both on campus and online. This course provides instruction in basic tax concepts and application, and individual income tax return preparation. It provides instruction pertaining to gross income, business and self-employed expenses, retirement plans, itemized deductions, capital gains and losses, and tax credits. Also included are topics related to California income tax return preparation and certain California adjustments.

The California Tax Education Council has approved our course. As such, the successful completion of our course provides students with the minimum qualifications needed to apply to the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs to be licensed as certified tax preparers. Successful completion requires that the student be enrolled in Accounting 104, complete the entire semester, with a minimum of 60 hours attendance, and earn a grade of C (70%) or better.

Periodically we also offer a follow-on course, Accounting 105 - Intermediate Federal and California Income Taxes. This course provides more in depth exploration of individual income tax issues, an introduction to Corporate and Partnership taxation, and an introduction to tax research and planning concepts.

For both courses, we provide tax preparation software for student use, and lab assistant support in our accounting and business labs. Please refer to the Santa Ana College class schedule for times and locations of our practical and up to date tax courses.